Tennis net height indicator



United States Patent [72] Inventor William M. Davis 5851 Clinton St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90004 [21] Appl. No. 715,461 [22] Filed Mar. 1, 1968 [45] Patented Dec. 22, 1970 [54] TENNIS NET HEIGHT INDICATOR 3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] [1.8. CI. 273/29 [51] lnt.Cl. A63b 61/00 [50] Field ofSearch 273/29, 29.2, 29.3, 30, 31; 33/46 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 401,082 4/1889 Taylor... 273/292 2,615,712 10/1952 Moorg 273/292 FOREIGN PATENTS l 4,146 3/1888 Great Britain 190,006 12/1922 Great Britain 273/293 393,162 3/1962 Switzerland 273/29(.3)

Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant ExaminerTheatrice Brown Attorney-Beehler and Arant ABSTRACT: An anchor member is set in the playing surface of a game such as a tennis game at a location beneath the center of the net, there being pivotally attached to the anchor member an indicator rod which, when moved to a vertical position, shows the proper height at which the center of the net should be adjusted, and which, when released, will fall to a horizontal position adjacent the playing surface at a location in line with the net so that it will be out of the way while the game is in progress.

TENNIS NET HEIGHT INDICATOR Traditionally, tennis players have been accustomed to determine the correct height for the top edge of a tennis net by standing one racket in vertical position on the playing surface midway between opposite ends of the net and then placing the string portion of another racket horizontally on the top of the first racket, thereby to determine the'precisely desired elevation for the net. Although this has been an acceptable procedure in the past, new designs of tennis rackets have been introduced which vary the length of an acceptable tennis racket, or the width of the string portion of such a racket, or sometimes both. Accordingly, the traditional technique for quickly and easily determining the proper height of the tennis net is no longer available. Some dependable alternative is therefore necessary. Although separate measuring sticks have been made use of and although they do serve as a correct indicator for the height of the net, they have to be thrown out of the way somewhere after being used. Sometimes they lie'on the court surface where there is danger of them being stepped on. Often they lie on the court surface where they are prone to interfere with the progress of the game either by being struck with the ball or by being stumbled over. Even more frequently they get broken or lost and are not available when needed.

It is therefore among the objects of the invention to provide a new and improved dependable indicator for the height of the net which is permanently anchored. in a proper position for measuring the net height, namely, midway between opposite ends of the net, which can be quickly and easily raised to the desired position and which, upon release, automatically falls to a retracted position out of the way, where it will not be damaged and where it cannot interfere with the progress of the game or the safety of the players.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the midportion of a playing surface of a net game such as tennis court, showing a tennis net in place and showing the location of the net height indicator of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view of the net height indicator itself in horizontal position.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the court structure and net structure showing the location and movement of the net height indicator.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the base of the net height indicator. 7

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the net height indicator on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view of the base of the net height in- I dicator embedded in a concrete tennis court.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a modified form of net height indicator.

In the embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration, there is shown a tennis court indicated generally by the reference character 10 consisting of a base structure 11 laid on a ground surface 12. The base structure may be clay, grass, concrete or bituminous macadam, depending largely on the section of the country where it is built and the demands of the playing personnel. The base structure 11 provides a playing surface 13 upon which lines 14 are used to denote a playing pattern on the opposite areas 15 and 16 separated by a center line 17.

Adjacent opposite edges of the playing surface are posts 18 and 19 for supporting a net structure20. The net structure customarily includes a supporting band 21 at the upper edge and the mesh 22. On some occasions, there may also be a band 23 at the lower edge. A cable 24 usually runs through the supporting band 21 forming ties 25 and 26 for securing opposite ends 27 and 28 of the net structure 20 to the respective posts 18 and 19. Usually, the ties 25 and 26 engage the respective posts at fixed location and the cable is drawn tight by some conventional means such as a crank (not shown). Although the cable may be tightly drawn, the weight of the cable itself and the net structure is always appreciable and this affects the height of the supporting band 21 which determines the net height. The usual method is to so' locate the level of the ties where they engage the posts that the center of the net is slightly higher than desired. To bring the center of the net down to desired height, there is provided a tape 30 equipped with an adjusting buckle 31, the tape 30 being looped around the supporting band 21 at the top and fastened by a swivel 32 to an anchor 33 in the base structure 11. In order to bring the topmost edge of the supporting band 21 to exactly the right height at the center of the net, the buckle 31 is tightened or loosened, thereby to change the'length'of the loop of the tape To determine just exactly what the proper height should be for the uppermost edge of the supporting band 21, there is provided a net height indicator embodied in a rod 35. At a location beneath the net structure'and substantially midway between opposite ends, there is provided an anchor bracket 36 fastened in the base structure 11 so that it is permanently fixed and immovable. In the chosen embodiment, the anchor bracket 36 includes a substantially'inverted U-shaped strap having legs 37, 38 and a'crosspiece 39. At the outer free ends of the legs are tabs 40 and 41 respectively. The U-shaped strap is especially well suited to be embedded in concrete or asphalt when the tennis court is constructed of such material, but may also be attached to a wooden peg 42 driven into the court when the court is a clay court, as suggested by FIG. 1. Nails (not shown) may be driven through holes 43, 44 into the peg 42. The anchor 33 is shown secured to the crosspiece 39.

For mounting the rod 35, use is made of a two-part hinge member 50 consisting of one part 51 fastened by rivets 52 to the crosspiece 39 and a second piece in the form of a pin 53. The rod 35 is fastened to the second piece 53 so that it can be tilted up and down as suggested by the arrow and the broken line position of the rod 35 in FIG. 3. The length of the rod 35 is made such that when it is raised to vertical position, the upper end 55 of the rod will be at precisely the elevation or level desired for the midpoint of the top edge of the band 21.

Since it may not always be convenient to fasten the anchor bracket 36 so that its upper end is precisely at a desired level with respect to the playing surface 13, the rod 35 may be provided with an adjustable sleeve 56 adapted to fit snugly over the rod. An adjusting screw 57 having a threaded engagement with the upper end 55 can be manipulated to extend to a location such that when the outermost surface 58 of the sleeve 56 is in vertical position adjacent the supporting band 21, it will be at precisely the right elevation.

It is further advantageous to provide a trough 60 along the center line 17. Frequently in concrete courts, such a trough is already present, serving as an expansion joint. In clay courts, there may be a recessed drain sufiicient to supply such a trough. If a trough is not already present, it is desirable to make certain of the presence of atrough like the trough 60 at least as long as the rod 35 and having a depth greater than the cross-sectional dimension of the rod. On such occasions, the hinge part 51 is installed at an elevation such that the pin 53 does not protrude above the playing surface 13. By locating the hinge member 50 and its anchor. bracket 36 centrally and within the trough 60, the rod 35, when swung downwardly to a horizontal position, is contained within the trough 60, below the level of the playing surface 13 where it cannot interfere with the progress of the game. Whenever needed to assist in determining the height of the net, however, the rod can be easily lifted from the trough, swung to vertical position while the tape 30 is adjusted by means of its buckle, and then permitted to drop again to concealed position in the trough 60, where it will fall of its own weight.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in what is conceived to be a practical and effective embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims as as to embrace any and all equivalent devices. 

